“I think the most important thing is that it reinforces the suspicion people had which is that he’s not fighting for them. That perception was already out there and this sort of confirmed it and reinforced that. You might not see that show up day to day in a horserace poll in a swing state, but that larger perception is certainly out there and it’s not something that we intend to stop talking about.”

Said another senior adviser:

“You’ll see this come up over the course of the next few weeks. ..The thing that’s most damaging for him is, again, he’s not giving anybody anything else to talk about, which is the biggest liability for him. It reaffirms that he’s not at all in touch with what’s happening across this country. To think that 47% of this country doesn’t take personal responsibility, consider themselves victims, feel entitled to things?….. Tell that to the mother working two jobs in Columbus because she got laid off from her job and she’s just trying to make ends meet. She’s taking personal responsibility.”